George Washington on the Power to Declare War

The Constitution delegates the power to “declare war” to Congress, not the President.

A leading University of Virginia constitutional law professor did an in-depth study of the founding era understanding of the phrase “to declare war” fora 2007 Cornell Law Review article. He concluded that the founders – and the founding generation understood the phrase as meaning “to decide to enter a war,” and includes acts of war as well as formal declarations of war.

In other words, the act of establishing a no-fly zone, ordering a drone strike, or dropping bombs is fundamentally a declaration of war – and the president doesn’t have the constitutional authority to do it without authorization from Congress.

“The Constitution vests the power of declaring war with Congress, therefore no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they have deliberated upon the subject, and authorized such a measure.”